Charlestown, Nevis
February 06, 2008
“It has been the objective of this government to seek to raise the bar and to raise the standards of operations of the financial Industry here on the island of Nevis “, said Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance, Hon Joseph Parry.
The Premier made the statement at the 2008 Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AMF/CFT) seminar held at the Mount Nevis Hotel on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
This annual event was held under the theme “Meeting International Compliance Standards- A Challenge for all.” The seminar is in preparation for the Nevis Financial Services Department’s upcoming Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) Mutual Evaluation of the Federation.
The evaluation of the St. Kitts-Nevis Financial Services will be conducted in September 2008 by CFATF.
“We need to attract marketers, lawyers and experts in the field of finance, but first of all we must remember to remain clean,” said Mr. Parry.
During the Seminar, Keynote Speaker, Mr. Nick Troy, Deputy Director of the Anti- Money Laundering Unit at the Isle of Jersey Financial Services Commission, laid down a number of interesting case studies coming out of the Jersey experience.
“Isle of Jersey is the largest English Channel Island with approximately sixty percent of its economy based on Financial Services. Thanks to a specialization in a few high return sectors, at purchasing power parity, Jersey has a very high economic output per capita,” said Mr. Troy.
Topics discussed included Raising Standards for Identifying and Reporting Suspicious Business Transactions, The Challenge for the Federation and The Advantages of Professional Associations and Accreditation.
The seminar concluded with participants from the private and public sectors, such as The Bank of Nevis, RBTT Bank, Morning Star Holdings, SimonnetteLewis- BVI and the Ministry of Finance for St. Kitts and Nevis receiving certificate awards.